


It Really Must be End Times

by Isis



Category: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (TV)
Genre: Camping, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Episode: s01e04 The First Thing I Remember is Fire, Episode: s01e05 She Knows All the Secrets, F/F, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:47:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21824647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isis/pseuds/Isis
Summary: A Vapran, a Drenchen, and a Spriton walkintoout of a bar...
Relationships: Naia/Tavra (Dark Crystal)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 16
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	It Really Must be End Times

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tam_Cranver](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tam_Cranver/gifts).



> Huge thanks to kurushi for beta. Dialogue in the last scene is from S01E05, "She Knows All the Secrets."

A Vapran and a Drenchen fighting side by side? – Naia  
It really must be end times. – Tavra  
(S01E04 “The First Thing I Remember is Fire”)

They had been walking in silence for most of the afternoon. The thick trees of the Endless Forest had given way to a few spindly trees in a landscape of scraggly bushes and jumbles of rock, and the Castle of the Crystal was now visible, though it was still far in the distance. The suns were drawing close to the horizon, making their shadows long and complicated, and the trill of birdsong had given way to the buzz of insects.

Kylan broke the silence. “We should find a place to camp soon.”

Naia nodded, then looked back over her shoulder. The Princess Tavra was a good forty paces behind them. “Try to keep up, Vapran!”

“Don’t be upset with her. She could have ridden her landstrider instead of staying with us,” said Kylan. “A pity it couldn’t carry all three of us.”

“She could have given _me_ her landstrider, instead of sending it back to Ha’rar,” muttered Naia. “The faster I can get Gurjin out of there, the faster all this will be over.”

“You know that’s not true. We all saw what the Skeksis did.”

Naia sighed. Kylan was not wrong. When they’d dreamfasted in the Podling tavern, Rian had showed them not just his innocence of the crime he’d been accused of, but that the Skeksis lords – the rulers of Thra – had committed that crime. Had killed a Gelfling guard, and blamed another for it, and had imprisoned her brother because he wouldn’t repeat their lies. It would not be over until the Gelfling of Thra threw off the yoke of Skeksis rule. But that only made it more important that she get her brother out of there before they killed him as well.

“Sorry,” Tavra gasped, as she came up behind them.

“Are we going too fast for you, Vapran?” Naia saw Kylan dart an annoyed glance in her direction; he probably thought the oily sweetness in her voice was uncalled for. She didn’t care. If the pale-haired princess wanted to come with them to the castle, she’d have to move her dainty feet with a bit more speed.

“Oh, no,” said Tavra cheerfully, though she was still panting. “It’s only that I figured we’d be stopping for the night and I thought we should be well-fed if we’re taking on the Skeksis tomorrow, so I went off the road to forage a little. I hope you like stone-pumpkin. Oh, wait, you probably don’t have them in your little swamp, do you – Drenchen?”

The last words were spoken with precisely the same mocking tones Naia had used. Quickly, Kylan said, “I love roasted stone-pumpkin! We can make a cook-fire. And look, over by the stream. That looks like a good place to camp.”

Naia swallowed the rude words she had been about to say, and looked where he was indicating, on the far side of the stream that paralleled the road. There the land dipped into a protective dell next to a small cliff. A slab of rock, fallen from higher up the hillside, lay at an angle against the cliff, forming what was almost a shallow cave. “Hmm. Yes, that should do.”

“I’ll see if I can find some merkeep or neffa root to go with our meal,” said Kylan. “Can you two please try not to kill each other before I get back?”

* * *

While Tavra scooped the seeds from the stone-pumpkins, peeled them, and cut them into large pieces, Naia scavenged dry wood and made a fire. Then she snapped a few green sticks from living trees, and sharpened them into skewers. 

“For roasting them on the fire,” she said, dropping them in front of Tavra. 

“Thank you,” said Tavra. She looked up from her work and met Naia’s eyes. “And – I’m sorry I told you to go back to your swamp, back in the tavern. That was rude of me.”

“Hmm,” said Naia, nodding. She hadn’t expected an apology. _Guess it’s my turn._ “Thank you for finding us some dinner.”

“Don’t say that until you’ve eaten some. They taste more like stone than like pumpkin, even after they’ve been cooked.”

“I’ve got a bit of spongebread in my pack. And I’m sorry for – ” she waved her hand back toward the road, hoping it conveyed the sentiment she intended. _Sorry for generally being a jerk to you._ “I’m just upset about Gurjin.”

“I don’t blame you.” Tavra finished cutting the stone-pumpkin and began threading the pale orange pieces onto the skewers. “If either of my sisters were being held in the Castle, I’d be frightened, too.”

Naia snorted. “I’m not frightened. I’m angry.”

“That, too.” She skewered the last of the pieces, then handed them to Naia. “I’ll go wash my hands.”

Naia set the skewers over the fire as Kylan approached from the direction of the stream. “Not much, but it’s something,” he said, putting a small handful of tubers next to the spongebread Naia was warming on a flat rock close to the edge of the fire. “And it looks as though both of you have all your arms and legs, and I don’t see any blood.”

She could see Tavra approaching, over Kylan’s shoulder, so she raised her voice, just a little, and caught her eye. “She’s not bad. For a Vapran.”

“You’re not bad either,” said Tavra. “For a Drenchen.”

Kylan shook his head, smiling. “This is like a bad joke. A Vapran, a Drenchen, and a Spriton walk into a bar...”

“Walk _out_ of a bar, you mean!” Tavra laughed. She had a nice laugh, thought Naia. Like little bells. “I hope the Podlings don’t mind that we left a dream-etching on their table.”

“It will help pass on Rian’s information,” Kylan said. “Any Gelfling who touches it will learn the truth.”

“Oh, that reminds me.” Naia rummaged in her pack and pulled out a wineskin. “I bought some wine at the tavern before we left.”

“Well, that will make the stone-pumpkin go down better,” said Tavra.

They thanked Thra and the forest for the gift of the meal, and then passed around the food. The stone-pumpkin didn’t taste quite as bad as Tavra had implied earlier, but it was rather stringy and a bit musty-tasting; Naia was glad of the roots Kylan had collected, and the spongebread and nuts she’d brought with her from Sog. Belatedly she had realized that Tavra must have not expected to camp on the journey, since traveling by landstrider was so much faster than walking. No wonder she had wanted to forage. But it was good that she had, since the supplies she and Kylan had brought with them were intended for two, not for three. 

They sat around the fire as it burned down to coals, drinking the wineskin down to its dregs. Kylan played a few soft tunes on his firca. The Blue Moon rose, and the Pearl Moon joined it in the sky. Finally Kylan yawned, and then Tavra did, and then Naia; they laid their cloaks under the leaning slab of rock, and crawled into their makeshift beds.

* * *

Naia had been sitting by the barely-warm coals for quite some time – the Blue Moon was drawing close to the horizon, and the Pearl Moon was high in the star-studded sky – when she heard footsteps behind her, and tensed. “It’s just me, Drenchen. Can’t sleep?”

She sighed as Tavra dropped to sit beside her. “A lot on my mind, Vapran.”

“Hmm. Mine, too.”

They looked at the sky for a while. Everything was silent save for an occasional night-creature, croaking in the distance. Finally Tavra said gently, “We’ll get there in time to rescue him, Naia.”

“I’d feel better if we were there already.”

“What I saw of him through Rian’s eyes told me that he’s strong, and he’s brave, and he’s resourceful. We’ll be there tomorrow. He’ll be fine.”

 _Unless he’s already dead._ She put that thought away, down deep, and said instead, “He’d better be, or the Skeksis will have a lot to answer for.”

“The Skeksis already have much to answer for,” said Tavra. “And we _will_ rescue Gurjin. You know, the way he refused to give up Rian reminded me a bit of my younger sister, Brea. She’s always doing what she thinks right, whether or not anyone else agrees with her. And let me tell you, it’s not always easy to stand up to the All-Maudra – especially when she’s your mother.”

“I have some experience with having a Maudra for a mother,” said Naia dryly, and they both laughed. 

“The last I saw Brea, she was escaping from a sentence of drudgery with the Order of Lesser Service. Maybe Gurjin’s managed to escape, as well.”

“I hope so.” She knew Tavra was only trying to cheer her up – the cells where Skeksis kept their prisoners were impossible to escape, even for a former castle guard – but she appreciated the effort. And it was obvious that Tavra was close to her sister, and understood Naia’s worry. Impulsively she put her hand on Tavra’s wrist. “I think you’ll like Gurjin, when you meet him. For real, that is, not in a dreamfasting.”

“I’m sure I will,” replied Tavra. She turned her hand under Naia’s so that they were palm-to-palm, then closed her fingers to gently squeeze Naia’s hand. “I already like his sister.”

The pale light of the moons made Tavra’s hair glow. Her skin looked as smooth as a river-worn stone. Her hand was warm and her lips were slightly parted in the hint of a smile.

Hoping to Thra she had read Tavra’s expression and intent correctly, Naia leaned toward her. Tavra turned her head. “Yes,” she said, and closed the last bit of gap between them.

The kiss was long and sweet, and when Naia opened her eyes again the Blue Moon had set.

* * *

They reached the Castle of the Crystal in the late morning. There was no difficulty getting in; the Gelfling guards recognized the daughters of the Maudra Laesid and the All-Maudra Mayrin, and let them and Kylan through the gates, though it took Tavra a while to convince them that they didn’t need an escort and knew where to go. Once in, they made their way through the warren of tunnels and passages to the lower levels.

They ducked into a side passage and pressed themselves against the wall as the Emperor stalked through the hall. When he’d passed, Tavra sighed with obvious relief. “You and Kylan find Gurjin, and make for Ha’rar. My mother will grant you safe harbor.”

“What about you?” asked Kylan.

“I want to know what the Skeksis are up to.”

Naia wanted to kiss Tavra one last time, for luck. But her skin prickled with nerves and the need to get to Gurjin as quickly as possible. So she only met Tavra’s eyes and said, “Try not to get yourself killed – Vapran.”

Tavra’s lips curved in the tiniest of smiles. “Until our paths meet again – Drenchen.”

Then she turned and set off down one tunnel, and Naia and Kylan headed down the one that would take them to the place Gurjin was being held. But in her heart, Naia answered: _I hope they will._


End file.
